SQL query prob

I'll try that one again.... I have a query: $sql = "SELECT * FROM contacts ORDER BY ContactType"; There are two types of contacts: * Commissioners * Staff As they are ordered by the ContactType then 'Commissioners' are displayed first followed by 'Staff'. I'd like to be able to display a heading on the page at the point of the FIRST instance of 'Commissioners' and at the FIRST instance of 'Staff'. As I'm using a while loop in my PHP script then at present such a heading would be displayed atop *each* item would it not? I think I need to use some kind of COUNT() but am unsure how to deploy it. Can anyone help me out? Cheers. Russ Mr Russ Michell Web Applications Developer Itomic.com Email: russ@itomic.com Tel: +61 (0)8 9321 3844 Fax: +61 (0)8 6210 1364 Post: PO Box 228, Innaloo, WA 6918, Australia Street: Suite 24, 158 William St, Perth, WA 6000, Australia "No proof of existence is not proof of non-existence." (Physicist: Stanton T. Friedman on Debunking Ufology)